3. Выполните письменно следующее задание:

Write a short paragraph (10-12 sentences) about your favourite actor.

Test 21

1. Прочтите текст "What Happened to the Dinosaurs" и выберите единственно правильный ответ.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE DINOSAURS?

Science may never answer the most puzzling question. What killed these

mighty creatures?

One of the most popular theories about the death of the dinosaurs is that the

world just grew too cold for them. Indeed, for large, cold-blooded creatures,

even a few nights of cold could spell death.

Not everyone agrees that a change in weather would have been enough to kill

the dinosaurs.

The latest development in the debate amongst scientists about what killed the

prehistoric dinosaurs is the suggestion that acid rain was the cause. Some

geologists suggest that a large meteor hitting the earth at 65 kilometres per

second would have led to strongly acidic rain falling all over the world. These

geologists calculated that if an ice-rich meteor weighing 12.5 million billion

kilograms, hit the Earth, it would shock-heat the atmosphere enough to produce

huge amounts of nitrogen oxides. This would result, they say, in strongly acid

rain around the world. If the meteor were travelling more slowly, or if it were

more rock-like in structure, this strongly acid rain would be limited to a small

area so that the world effect would be much less important. However, other

groups of researchers have suggested that volcanoes, rather than meteors, could

have produced these heavy doses of acid rain, but over a much longer period —

over 10,000 years.

The idea of a great asteroid or comet crash is fascinating. But it would mean

the dinosaurs would all have been killed within a very short time — perhaps

over a few months or years. What if the dinosaurs did not die out so quickly?

Many scientists think that the dinosaurs had started to die off millions of years

before the end of the Cretaceous Period. And even more amazing, fossils have

been found in the United States and southern China that might show dinosaurs

lived long after they were supposed to have disappeared!

Could the death of the dinosaurs have been caused by their moving into new

areas? Illness and disease can be carried by travelling animals. Is it possible that

dinosaurs and other creatures died of terrible diseases caught from other animals?

If this was what ended the dinosaurs, does this mean there was no asteroid or

comet crash? Some scientists think the dinosaurs might have been affected by such

an object from outer space, but only when they were already in trouble. Ill and

dying the dinosaurs might have looked up to see a fiery ball falling from the sky.

If so, it might just have sealed the dinosaurs' fate.

Вопросы к тексту:

1. Which of the following sentences best describes the main idea contained in

the passage?

(A) Scientists know for sure that a sudden and unexpected event killed

all the dinosaurs on the earth.

(B) There are several theories about the dinosaurs' death, but none of them can

explain why they disappeared so suddenly from the earth's surface.

(C) Some of the theories about the dinosaurs' death are more fascinating

than others, but none is certain.

(D) The dinosaurs' death can be explained if we combine two theories together.

2. What do some geologists think would happen if a large piece of ice-rich meteor hit

the earth at great speed?

(A) A huge volcano would be formed.

(B) 12.5 million billion kg of nitrogen oxide would be produced.

(C) Strongly acidic rain would result all over the world.

(D) The heat would kill all living things in the area.

3. The geologists think that if a rocky meteor hit the earth it would

(A) have little effect on things living nearby.

(B) have very long-lasting effect.

(C) take a long time to have any effect.

(D) not have any important world-wide effects.

4. Which of the following is true?

(A) Volcanoes couldn't produce heavy doses of acid rain for a long time.

(B) The idea of a meteor would mean that the dinosaurs were killed within a

few months or years.

(C) The dinosaurs had started to die off millions of years before the end of the

Jurassic Period.

(D) The dinosaurs were cold-blooded that's why they liked cold weather.

5. The speed of the meteor that might have hit the earth was about

(A) 12.5 million kilometres per second.

(B) 85 kilometres per second.

(C) 65 hundred kilometres per second.

(D) 65 kilometres per second.

6. Which of the following was not mentioned in the text?

(A) A large meteor could produce a strong acid rain.

(B) A volcano could produce a strong acid rain.

(C) Fossils have been found in southern Korea and some states.

(D) A comet might have hit the earth when the dinosaurs were in trouble.